ONE OF US IS THE KILLER

8/10

Fluent Like A Falling Feather.

Metalcore and Mathcore are the two genres that most frequently split the metal community right in two: some love it its complexity and mixture with Hardcore Punk, others loathe it. But The Dillinger Escape Plan are one of the few bands that always had a great amount of fans and relatively small amount of haters. 'One of Us Is The Killer' is the band's fifth studio album, and is what some call a game-changer: by far, it is the most mature album of theirs yet, their first LP that has greatness all over it, without ever getting lost into pretentiousness or instrumental wankery.

For starters, the production on 'One Of Us Is The Killer' is some of the most lush and polished heard this year, that however doesn't let the distortion and the heaviness lose the fierce momentum that is characteristic of Dillinger Escape Plan. But the big bonus that makes this album really stand out is a well-developed sense of melody and an overall more mature level of songwriting. Then, there's the aspect for which the band risked the most, as for every album, to sound pretentious or over-the-top: the Mathcore side of the equation, the odd-time signatures and improbable riffs that usually sound way too over-studied. While a lot of thought was undoubtedly put on these riffs as well, here these flashy moments are fun to listen to and obviously showcase a great deal of talent on behalf of the musicians, even because they miraculously sound spontaneous and well-placed, with the exception of a few spots here and there.

There is not one dull moment throughout the short period of time in which this album prolongs into, not only thanks to the catchiness and all those positive points I mentioned earlier, but because of a quality most albums these days lack: a flawless, perfect flow, that seems to understand when enough is enough, when it's time to turn things down, or slow the tempo down to a more straight-forward groove. Right off the bat you get two heavy, fast and Mathcore-to-the-core tracks that immediately grab the listeners attention: but the title track right after turns it down a notch, and for the first time in the album some melody is introduced. It's not necessarily a loud-quiet formula all of the time, because there's also the fast and Mathy tracks rigorously alternated with ones that manifest quite a bit of melody: 'Hero Of The Soviet Union' followed by 'Nothing's Funny', followed by the multi-faceted 'Understanding Decay' is an example of the clever pacing OFUITK pulls off. As far as further individual highlights go, 'Paranoia Shields' is almost a radio-friendly metal track, while 'Crossburner' slows things down in tempo but not in volume.

Probably one of the few Mathcore albums in existence that manages to sound fierce and technical and at the same time that gives the impression that it was an effortless achievement for the musicians. With an excellent boost in songwriting and sense of melody, Dillinger Escape Plan now have the respect they deserve.

Dillinger are a band that I've had a mixed relationship with in the past. I've always been interested in these guys from day one, but no matter what they did, there was always something about them that turned me off them, especially album wise. Their first few releases, a bit too crazy for my liking, slowly became slightly slowed down on their 2nd full length 'Miss Machine'. Now this is when things started to peek up for me interest wise. The guys decided to take a better approach at songwriting, with a lot of progressive influences throughout. The follow up, Ire Works was my favourite album of theirs a while, mainly because it was almost like 2 albums, with the crazy side and the more melodic side being almost separate and very noticeable Sadly, 'Option Paralysis' really wasn't my cup of tea. The ideas where strong and the sound was good, but it just seems that a lack of songwriting was the big problem. Other people love the album it seems, but it it really wasn't my thing.

Really the big problem I've always had with these guys is that they at times are like 2 bands...a mathcore band and a progressive metal band, who switch whenever they feel like it. The 2 could never really gel well, or at least they have never been able to mix them with success. But on this album...they've accomplished this.

Yea, I heard a lot of good things about this album, so when I finally got down to listening to it, I was very happy that everything that I wanted to hear on a Dillinger album is here.

The sound of the band is still similar, but this album really shows of how the songwriting has progressed and changed. The songs, instead of being crazy collections of discords, drum patterns and odd time signatures are now cohesive collections, with amazing build ups and changes of tone throughout.

One of the oddest quotes I heard about this album was from my brother, who basically said 'it's their most extreme but also their most accessible', and in many ways I agree with him. The album is definitely accessible with the popiness of some songs and the accessibility of the whole album, but...this is a very dark album. Instrumentally, it is to the point of almost injury inducing, with the bass and drums acting like a hammer to brain, while the guitar drills your gums. Greg's vocals are like every bad and angry comment spat at you like a snake shooting it's venom.

The album opener 'Prancer' and lead single really is a highlight for this band. I think anyone who has heard this song has wanted to buy the album straight after listening to it.

'When I Lost My Bet' flows perfectly from Prancer, in fact I thought it was the 2nd part to Prancer. A song based almost on a swing beat with stabs of staccato flourishes. As the song progresses it completely explodes.

The albums title track is a 'Dillinger' ballad. A slower and more melodic song, but definitely one of the highlights. A rather catchy and surprisingly powerful song.

Another major part of the album is the track 'Paranoia Shields.' A very dramatic and changing song with a very powerful performance from Greg.

One of the albums highlights has to be 'Crossburner.' The album's longest song, this one is packed full of drama and some heart wrenching vocals from Greg.

In conclusion, this is definitely the band's best album and their shining moment. These guys are like wine...it takes a while for them to really expose their flavours, so leaving them out for a few years will make them taste better. These guys have received a lot of attention in the past, and because of this release I think they should receive more. These guys have reclaimed their status as one of the worlds most interesting groups, most adventurous, both live and in the studio.

8.8/10

It took me a second to get into this band, due to the fact that they have a metalcore edge to them. I was never a fan of that kind of music but they were considered a prog metal band, so I gave them a chance. When I listened to this album it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I honestly consider it a nice piece of work and I think it would not hurt much to give this record a spin. I will most likely look into this bands other material, and I think that they sound great on this album. If you want a different take on progressive metal, then go ahead and give this band a try, or at least this album. I look forward to see what else this band has in terms of music because the band members are quite talented at their respective instruments.